While a number of hospital and operating room supplies today are disposable most hospitals still reuse many supplies, including instruments used in surgery. Such instruments typically include such things as clamps, scalpel blade handles, retractors, forceps, scissors, towels, basins and the like. However, before operating room supplies can be reused, they must be sterilized.
The process of sterilizing these supplies typically involves collecting the non-sterile supplies and placing them in an instrument tray. The instrument tray may be formed from stainless steel and have an open top and a perforated bottom panel. The instrument tray is then wrapped with generally two sheets of material. Each sheet of material is desirably a sheet of sterilization wrap.
A suitable sterilization wrap will allow entry and exit of a sterilant into and out of the instrument tray, while prohibiting the entry of bacteria or other contaminates into the instrument tray. Examples of suitable sterilization wraps include KIMGUARD.RTM. Sterile-Wrap, KIMGUARD ONE-STEP.TM. Sterile-Wrap and SPUNGUARD.RTM. Sterilization Wrap, which are manufactured and sold by Kimberly Clark Corporation. These sterilization wraps are generally formed from a spunbond/meltblown/spunbond laminate which is available in a variety of basis weights. Examples of suitable sterilants include steam, ethylene oxide and plasma.
Once the instruments have been sterilized, the wrapped instrument tray, containing the sterilized supplies, may be transported directly to a point of use. Alternatively, the sterilized wrapped instrument tray, containing the sterilized supplies, may be stored. In this way, the supplies are kept within the sterile confines of the wrapped instrument tray until just prior to their use.
During transportation to either the point of use or storage, the wrapped instrument tray may be handled several times. Each time the wrapped instrument tray is handled there is the potential that the sterility of the instrument tray and its contents may be compromised. The sterility of the wrapped instrument tray and its contents becomes compromised when a tear or other breach in the sterilization wrap occurs or when the sterilization wrap becomes wet or when liquid penetrates the sterilization wrap. If the sterility of the wrapped instrument tray is compromised at any time prior to the use of the supplies within the instrument tray, the supplies are considered contaminated and unusable until the instrument tray containing the supplies is rewrapped with sterilization wrap and re-sterilized.
In an effort to avoid tearing or otherwise breaching the sterilization wrap material, the storage shelves which contact the bottom of the wrapped instrument tray have been padded or cushioned. Examples of materials used for such cushioning or padding include foam or linen materials. Cushioning or padding, it is thought, reduces the risk of cuts, holes and tears in the sterilization wrap by reducing the amount of shear the sterilization wrap experiences when a wrapped instrument tray is pulled or dragged across the storage shelf.
Another effort to avoid tearing or otherwise breaching the sterilization wrap material includes the use of the surgical instrument transport tray described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,539 assigned to Kimberly-Clark Corporation. When this surgical instrument transport tray is used, the bottom of the transport tray accepts the shearing motion and frictional forces generated by the tray moving across the storage shelf thereby avoiding damage to the sterilization wrap.
Thus, while the above efforts have meet with varying degrees of success, there remains a need for other alternatives which avoid compromising the sterility of the instrument tray and its contents.